IFLA Libraries Serving Persons with Print Disabilities Seminar August 2024
The IFLA Library Services for Persons with Print Disabilities Section (LPD) Section organized a seminar hosted by the National Library Service of the Library of Congress in Washington DC, USA, from 20-24 August 2024. This international seminar offered a great opportunity for representatives from around the world to share their experiences, challenges and aspirations in serving persons with print disabilities.
Key topics included global efforts and projects on accessibility metadata and enhancing discoverability of accessible titles, global collaboration to develop library collections in various languages, regional efforts and challenges in implementing the Marrakesh Treaty and latest innovations in AI.
One of the seminar’s key moments was the powerful story from Iraq, where there is an urgent need for braille books, yet due to limited resources they were unable to provide them. Thanks to the international cooperation encouraged by events like this, a Tunisian organization stepped in and offered to support the Iraqi library in converting their titles to braille. This highlights how the library community works together beyond borders and formal agreements to bridge the gap in accessible publishing.
The power of face-to-face interactions in this seminar was quite evident. It brought together professionals from different regions who normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to exchange and learn from each other. For example, the Spanish-speaking countries are planning a meeting to discuss, exchange experiences and collaborate on implementation of Marrakesh Treaty. This spirit of collaboration also extended to language subgroups, such as the Arabic-speaking representatives, who are working to address regional challenges like increasing Arabic collections and collaborating to ensure compatibility of playback systems for accessible books.
Similarly, from DAISY’s perspective, communicating with other language groups can be challenging. However, through this opportunity, DAISY was able to present various solutions that can support the implementation of Marrakesh Treaty, such as conversion tools like DAISY Pipeline or reading systems that can respond to their needs.
In summary, the LPD seminar provided not only a platform for learning and sharing experiences but also sparked new initiatives. The ideas exchanged during the seminar will play a key role in shaping the future of more inclusive and accessible library services.